Poker is a game where taking the long run in to account is vital. In the heat of the moment, when everything is riding on the river it can be forgotten. However, failure to understand the basics of bankroll management is to invite disaster.
Bankroll management is an important and necessary skill to be a wining over the long run. It is a skill as vital as choosing the right position at the table, and knowing all the odds and how to bluff effectively. An adequate bankroll can compensate for the weaknesses in your game. An inadequate bankroll will (usually) lead to the spectacular killing of a player.
Ironically, many people have a strange idea of what a “bankroll” is and most actually play without one. For those of us who play at a small or moderate limit, bankrolls are not overly important. For the purely professional player, the bankroll can make or break them before they even arrive at the card table. Most players fall somewhere in between these two extreme ends of the spectrum and these are the players who often lose their shirts.
The poker bankroll is comprised of two questions: How much to risk in a certain game on a certain day? How much of that should they spend on a buy-in? For many of us with a decent job, and to the player who depends on poker for a part of their income, the session bankroll should be a reflection of what portion of their total income is in their overall bankroll. Ideally, a wipe out on any one day should have virtually ZERO impact on the overall bankroll – as long as they have the common sense to avoid turning a “day” or “session” at the tables in to a 72-hour bleed out.
Playing at a limit you have a bankroll for means that what you do and how much you buy-in for on yesterday’s game is irrelevant, just as long as you have the chips to play the current hand. The amount you win or lose is also irrelevant of when you cash out of a game.
At its simplest level having an adequate bankroll means that you do not have to worry about anything off the table. Put your energy and focus on employing your tactics to achieve that all-important objective of your strategy: Win and make money.
For newcomers to the game and those who keep losing as they improve, it is even easier: Accept that you are going to lose and bring only what you can afford to lose both literally and psychologically to the table. When you buy-in, accept that all the money you have to play with is on the table, nothing more, nothing less.
At the bottom line, the bankroll is more about your personal situation and circumstances than any poker variance. The adequate bankroll will vary from person to person and game to game. With your bankroll in order, you focus on one thing: Winning.